Russell Gulch

Well, it came upon quickly, but this was now my last day of work. Amazingly, though, I was doing something new even though this was the last day. I talked Kelsey into going through Russell Gulch which she had done recently with Brad. She was not insanely psyched about it, but I could not do Das Boot - Subway for the third time this summer. The Russell Gulch entrance to the subway is a very similar route except for when you have the chance you enter the drainage instead of staying high.

 Tim and Matt were along for the trip. I knew we were going to have a good time. When we got away from the Subway drainage, it was actually quite a long walk before we got to any of the rappels. I enjoyed the canyon is it went from narrow to open throughout. It was definitely dry and was mostly a sandy wash. 

When we got to the first rappel, it was actually a long one, but the shortest one in the canyon. It was funny that it made me nervous even on this last day going through a new canyon. This one was an awkward start, but an easy drop into a pothole and then another little drop after that. We all did it with ease. Then we got to do the longest rappel. This one was awesome. Just a nearly vertical wall with an easy start. It was about a 75 footer with just pure easy going vertical. We ended it down on a sandy bottom. So sweet! Last one we got to ended free hanging. I went last and just loved it. Everyone else did the hanging the pack thing. I was not about to switch it up, but I had no problem. The only thing I have ever hung the pack for was Englestead and I was not about to do it for Russell Gulch. The rappel was great and we finished with a sandy bottom to land in. 

The rest of the canyon was not long and ended with a hike around into the traditional Subway entrance. Now it was one last paid trip through the Subway. Already harnessed up and ready to go it was an easy trip. Swimming, short rappels, and beauty and we were taking off the harnesses ready to finish the 4 miles out. Of course on the trip out I got to deal with a no permit jerk who would not respond to me and tried to outhike us out of the canyon. We called out the LE on the radio though so he had his day. It was just unfortunate that we had to deal with that. I am so sick of people just doing things they are not supposed to out in the backcountry. Respect it and follow the rules that everyone else has to follow. Well it was a bad way to end such a great day. I had a good time spending it with Tim, Kelsey, and Matt. 

They were all quality bc rangers, even if Tim was an interp ranger. The day was sadly done and so was a fun trip and backcountry season. I wondered if I would be back in a Park Service uniform again. I wouldn't doubt it.

Northgate Peak

Well our days at Zion were coming swiftly to an end. This was brought to the forefront of our minds by the going away party that Annette and Greg had so graciously thrown us a couple of days before. It was a great turnout to get all of our friends from the park to come on out. Brad put together a slideshow and we had some good eatin', drinkin', and pongin'. Matt, Liz, and Annette were the real troopers who stayed up late into the night with us just b.s.ing. I was glad, but the other hard part about leaving Zion was leaving all the limitless possibilities out there for exploring. I took the liberty to do a little exploring on one of my last days of work. Having no one to hike with, I went out by myself for a hike on the Northgate Peaks/Wildcat Canyon Trails. The Northgate Peaks is a trail I have been on quite a few times, but to the end only twice. This time instead of stopping at the viewpoint at the end, I scrambled on down into the valley in between the peaks. There was a use trail that I continued on and led me to the base of one of the peaks. I knew this was a little bit off my route, but since I never stopped to take a lunch break, I figured I had 45 minutes to explore. I used it on this day to climb Northgate Peak. There was a route up it that I just had to follow. It was faint in places but common sense kept me going until I reached the top on a scorching hot day. The view from on top was incredible and I took a few minutes to soak it up. The reds, oranges, whites, grays, greens, all blended together to make a splendid view. Zion really is one of the most amazing places on earth. Well I scrambled back down and resumed my normal day of work. Saw a half dozen people that were pleasant. I caught a horned lizard wandering across my path also. I wanted to check the condition of the Wildcat Spring, but I never could get to it. I walked the distance necessary, but once I got to the spot it was located, there were so many stinging nettles I could not get to it. I tried quite a few times, but I kept leaving in pain without any luck. Thankfully, I brought enough water to make the trip back to the trailhead without needing to fill up, but I liked to keep extra with me. On this day, though, I had to go back without it. I was glad that I was not on a long backpack coming out of Hop Valley and this was my first water source for 19 miles. That would have been miserable. Well, I wandered on back enjoying another hot hiking day in Zion. I only had a desk day and another canyon day left to finish out my season and possibly my park service career. Who am I kidding, I am sure that being a seasonal in the park service will find its way into my future plans.

Back to the Basin

Jacqueline and I were finally fitting in some time to get out to Great Basin. We wanted to make the trip before the big move in only a few weeks. We were anxious to sell one of our old vehicles before moving to Colorado, but we had not been very lucky yet. So we packed up the new vehicle, our Xterra, and made the 3 hour drive out to the Basin. There was a trail that we had not hiked yet near the visitor center, so we made that our first destination. We got a bit confused at first where the actual trailhead was because it lacked signs but eventually we stumbled onto a bridge and lots of signs to begin our trek. We were set now to follow the the stream up Pole Canyon, so we could relax and take a hike together. It was great to have some cooler temperatures and lots of greenery. We were even lucky enough to get some sprinkles. Jacqueline made sure to pull out her rain jacket immediately and I made sure to make fun of her becaurse getting a little moisture when it is in the high 70s is usually a relief. 

The jacket was quickly off. The map showed that when we got to Pole Canyon Spring, there was a dead end. As we continued to hike the three plus miles of meadow and forest hiking, we ran into a sign that pointed us to a connector trail with the Baker Creek Trail. We debated whether we wanted to take on this new endeavor and eventually a definite yes came out. We were hoping to see a spring before our departure, but never quite ran into it. Instead we were soon climbing. The hills looked high and Jacqueline wondered where this trail would take us. I pointed to the obvious saddle, but she denied my route choosing ability. 

Soon we were heading up to the saddle. We were able to get some awesome views of Wheeler Peak and the surrounding peaks. We looked at our map to decide what to do from there. Either we could head back the way we came or we could hike to the Baker Creek Trail and then be stuck with a long walk along the road. We decided to go with the new trail instead of the backtrack. We descended until we hit Baker Creek and from there it was only a short walk to the parking lot and a long walk down the road to our car. We were not lucky enough to see any marmots crossing, but we did get inaudibly yelled at by some early 20 something rednecks. We shrugged it off and enjoyed our walk that kept getting warmer and warmer as we lost elevation. I was happy we chose this because we got to see two neat sights. First we saw a cave. This was right near the car. We went to go check it out but there were resource management signs, so we let it be. I would love to go back with some people and spelunk it. The other sight was a rattler, which I spotted but Jacqueline did not. Once we got back in the car and drove, we saw the rattler once again crossing the road when we were driving. I guess he couldn't make up his mind. From there we headed up to Wheeler Peak Campground. This was going to be our third trip to the campground and our third different site. All the sites were within 50 feet of each other though. We were right near the meadow and there were plenty of deer there to enjoy the large grass. We did our usual of throwing some beers in the creek, although this time our access was not as good, so every time I got a beer, my feet got soaked. We made some dinner, played some cards, and then retreated to the Xterra. The sleeping was not as comfortable for me as the Ranger. I had to basically sleep sideways crowding Jacqueline to get my 6 ft. plus frame into there. I knew we would have to make adjustments next trip, but I got some good sleep. We woke up nice and early to begin another trip. We were the only souls parking at the Wheeler Peak parking lot, but our destination was not the 13,063 ft giant that towers over the park, but instead a smaller peak, Bald Mountain that is just a slight detour off the Wheeler Peak trail. Having climbed Wheeler twice, I had the route planned out in my head. We basically followed the trail through the aspens, to the meadows, past the lakes, up through the pine forest, until it plateaued out at a somewhat saddle. I say somewhat because going left would have meant another 1800 feet of climbing, but going right where we were going was a very gradual slope. We only needed to climb another 500 feet to stand on the summit. It was disappointing to have a radio tower up on top, but the views were great. We could see Mt. Moriah to the north and Wheeler Peak to the south. We enjoyed the view for a bit, but we had to go down and retreat back to the daily grind. We made sure to stop at Stella Lake and skip some rocks before making the drive back to Springdale. When I got home, I had two messages about my truck. That night two people showed up at the same time and bid on the ranger. I sold it to a kid on his way out to Colorado for college. It was hard to see it go but it was going to be a lot easier moving in a few weeks without an extra vehicle to deal with. I was still sad to see it go as I put a lot of miles and a lot of memories into that truck.